Baby tender and walker.



No. 7|5,978. Patented nec. le, |992. c. J. cARRoLL.

BABY TENDER AND WALKER.

(Application filed May 13. 1902.)

(No Model.)

Nite STATES' -ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. CARROLL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

BABY TENDER AND WALKER.

sPEcIFIcA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent' No. 715,978, dated December 16, 1902.

Application filed May 13, 1902. Serial No. 107,120. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLns J. CARROLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Baby Tenders and Walkers, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to improvements in baby tenders and walkers designed to hold a baby in a sitting position and also to support the baby during itsefforts in learning to walk.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a device of this character with a freely-swinging suspended seat that can be tilted up from a horizontal into a vertical position to be out of the way of the child when the device is being used as a walker and which is provided with overbalancing means which will automatically hold the seat in a vertical position after it has once been tilted to said position.

` A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible pommel-strap which will support the child in its eorts to walk without any danger of injury to the posterior glands or other sensitive parts and which is so arranged that it may serve to hold the seat locked in a horizontal position to prevent the child from getting down off the seat; and a further object is to provide means to prevent the child from falling out of thedevice when it is arranged either as a tender or walker.

With these and other objects in vview the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements,and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a rear perspective View of the device arranged as a baby-tender. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the upper portion of the device with the body-ring removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View, with parts in side elevation, of the device arranged as a babywalker. Fig. 4 is a front View. Fig. 5 is an inverted or bottom plan view of the body-ring of the device, illustrating the means for fastening the upper end of the pommel-strap thereto. Fig. 6 illustrates a modification in 5o the manner of suspending the seat.

Referring to the drawings, the letter o. designates a rectangular base mounted on casters a and supporting four upwardly-converging posts b, on whose upper ends is doweled Y or otherwise secured a body-ring c. The base,

posts, and body-ring together form the framelhoop and seat, respectively. By .means of the straps the seat can be adjusted to various heights. The said seat A comprises in this instance two superposed boards h h', of which the lowermost board h is provided with the screw-eyes g, to which the lower ends of the straps are secured, and the upper board h is yieldingly supported on the lower board by in'eans of interposed helical -springs c', seated in recesses in the two boards, and the two boards are connected together at opposite sides by vertically-slotted guide-plates j, attached to one board and sliding on studs k, attached to the other board, as shown in the drawings.

To the front part of the seat A is rigidly secured a transverse inverted-U-shaped loop l, extending upwardly in a plane at right angles to the seat and also extending from one side of. the seat to the other, as indicated in Fig. l.

The seat A is preferably almost entirely of wood, and the loop Zis of metal and makes the front ofthe seat heavier than the back. Hence it is evident that although the seat A when IOG arrangement whereby the seat may be tilted, as described, a very advantageous and important feature, for when the seat is tilted to the vertical position illustrated in Fig. 3 it is entirely out of the childs way during its.ef forts in walking and at the same time serves as a support for the childs back, and as the childs legs either in a sitting or standing position extend through the said loop Z, as will be evident from the front view, Fig. 4, the child cannot slide or fall out of the device.

In order to provide means for locking the seat A when desired in a horizontal position, so that the child cannot get down, and to also provide a pom melstrap,which will aid to support the child in walking position without injury, one end of a iiexible strap m, preferably of tubular webbing, is attached to the under surface of the seat, and said strap is also secured to the cross-bar of the loop Z, and the other or free end of the strap passes through a keeper n, secured to the under side of the body-ring c, as illustrated plainly in Figs. 4 and 5, and is provided with two holes o, either of which can be passed over a stud p on the body-ring, so that the said strap may be held taut, as illustrated in Fig. 6, to prevent the seat from being tilted to a vertical position, or may be held, as illustrated in Fig. 3, when it limits the downward movement of the loop Z and prevents the latter from dropping down far enough to throw the child out.

As will be seen from Fig. 2, the seat A is suspended, not from the body-ring c, but from the encircling bracing-hoop d, or, if desired, the said hoop may be entirely dispensed with and the suspendingstraps hung from screweyes q, secured directly to the posts Z), as illustrated in Fig. 6, and various other changes may be made in the manner of supporting the said seat.

From the foregoing description and accompanying drawings it will be seen that I have provided a baby tender and walker with a seat which can be readily held in either a horizontal or vertical position, as desired, and which is provided with a flexible pommelstrap that will support the child during its efforts to walk without injury to the child.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A device of the character described,com prising a framework; flexible Suspenders connected to said framework; a seat suspended from said Suspenders so as to freely swing within said framework, and said seat capable of tilting on said Suspenders from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa; and an overbalancing device secured to said seat and adapted to overbalance the same when it is started to tilt to a vertical position, whereby said device will automatically hold said seat in the vertical position, as set forth.

2. A device of the character described,com

prising a framework; iexible Suspenders connected to said framework; a seat suspended at its back and front from said Suspenders, and said seat capable of tilting on the front Suspenders from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa; and an overbalancing device secured to said seat at the front and extending upwardly therefrom at su ch an angle that will automatically hold said seat in the vertical position, but will itself be held up by said seat when the latter is in the horizontal position, as set forth.

3. Adevice of the character described, comprising a framework; a seat suspended within said framework and capable of tilting from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa; and an overbalancing-loop, Z, secured to said seat, as set forth.

4. Adevice of the characterdescribed, comprising a framework; a seat suspended within said framework and capable of tilting from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa; an overbalancing-loop, Z, secured to said seat; and a pommel-strap secured to said seat and loop and arranged to hold the seat locked in horizontal position, as set forth.

5. A baby tender and walker, comprising a framework; a seat suspended within the framework and capable of tilting from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa; and a iiexible pommel-strap secured to said seat and adapted to support the baby when the device is used as a walker.

6. Adevice of the character described, comprising a base; posts supported on said base; a body-ring secured to the upper ends of said posts; a bracing-hoop encircling said posts underneath said body-ring; a seat suspended from said bracing-hoop and provided at its front portion with an inverted- U -shaped loop; and a strap secured to said loop and arranged for adjustable connection to the body-ring, as set forth.

7. A device of the character described, comprising a framework, including a body-ring 11o provided on its under side with a stud, p; a seat suspended within said framework and capable of tilting from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa; a transverse loop, Z, secured to the front portion of said seat and adapted to overbalance the seat to hold the latter in a vertical position; and a exible pommel-strap secured to said seat and to said loop and provided at one end with holes whereby it may be fastened to said stud, as set forth.

8. A baby tender and walker, comprising a framework; a seat suspended within the framework and capable of tilting from a horizontal to a vertical position and vice versa, and provided with a loop through which the childs legs are intended to extend; and means secured to said loop for holding said seat in a horizontal position, said means being also arranged to limit the downward move- 13o IOO ment of said loop when the seat is tilted to ay' vertical position, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. A baby tender and walker, comprising a framework; a. seat suspended within the framework and capable of tilting from a. horizontal to a Vertical position and vice versa, and provided with a. loop, Z, extending approximately at right angles to the plane of the seat; and means secured to said loop for 1o limiting the downward movement thereof when the seat is tilted to a vertical position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES J. CARROLL.

Witnesses: e

CHARLES L. VIETsoH, FREDERICK S. STITT. 

